This week in the kitchen

Monday/25-Apr-22: We ate from the freezer tonight, Creamy Turkey and Wild Rice Soup, along with some cheese and onion sandwiches. A dark chocolate-covered madeleine each for after.

Tuesday/26-Apr-22: Chris, Jacky, and Hitomi arrived today. 

Dinner was Za'atar Lamb Chops (web; GD); these were yummy as usual. Served with Moroccan couscous (store-bought mix) and two little salads that I've made before, Grilled Red Pepper Strips with Pomegranate and Cumin (EastMed, p154) and Grated Cucumber Salad with Oregano (Morocco, p75). For after there was Cheesecake Ice Cream (Scoop, p62), served with some frozen raspberries. This is a really rich and delicious ice cream, a bit lemony, which was tempered by the raspberries. Delicious.

Wednesday/27-Apr-22: Lunch out today. Cheese and charcuterie for our evening repas.

Thursday/28-Apr-22: Lunch out today. Cheese and charcuterie for our evening repas. Pretty boring, eh?

Friday/29-Apr-22: We had lunch in today between a visit to the Victor Hugo market and the Maison Soulat, the reincarnation of our local coop winery that was wiped out in the big hailstorm in 2018.

For a starter we had a sort of insalata caprese with the beautiful yellow tomato Jacky bought at the market, kind of a surinamse salad. 

 

Our second starter was Salade de Mache au Betteraves (BEFCC, p32), an old favorite. For our main, there was Lemony Chicken Saltimbocca (web; GD) with whole wheat spaghetti. No time for dessert before going off to taste wine.

In the evening there was cheese and charcuterie yet again, with a charentais melon and pineau, and some canelés. 

Saturday/30-Apr-22: Lunch out today. Left the girls at the train station to return to Paris and thence to Texas. 

Sunday/2-May-22: Dinner was Salade met Falafel en Blauwe Kaas (Tip/aug01; web); Tip Culinair is a now defunct Dutch cooking magazine. Fast to make and tasty, but the recipe for two could easily have served three and maybe four. For a starter we had an little insalata caprese with a Coeur de Boeuf tomato. The tomato was relatively tasteless compared to yesterday's yellow beauty. We finished with melon and pineau.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 1; #2 PHOTO: yes;
This month: #3 GUESTS: n/a
This year: #5 BACKLOG2: yes/no; #6 BACKLOG3: no; #7 RECYCLE: 0; #8 NEW: 2

This week in the kitchen

Monday/14-Jun-21: Dinner was Banh Mi Burgers (web). Pretty tasty, if no kind of authentic. Finished off the orange pound cake for after.

Tuesday/15-Jun-21: Being a bit tired of bread from the freezer, I made a loaf of Easy French bread (Electric, p62) this afternoon. 

Dinner was a half dose of Thai-Style Scallop-in-a-Packet (MWClass, p366). This is easy and delicious. Served over basmati rice. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each for after. 

Wednesday/16-Jun-21: A stop at Leclerc Drive, and a shopping at Leclerc itself. 

Dinner was Baked Honey Sriracha Lime Salmon* (web, GD). Served with trio rice and Asian Green Bean Salad* (web, GD) made with chunks of snijbonen rather than green beans and a chopped tomato rather than cherry tomatoes. Some store-bought custards for after.

Thursday/17-Jun-21: We came away from shopping with a surplus of kiwis. So I made Kiwi Jam (web), of course. Put two jars in the freezer and have a bit to try tomorrow. Put chicken on to marinate for tonight's dinner. 

After last night's storm, Someone opened both the skylights to let in the fresh, cooler air, neglecting the forecast rain for the day.  In the early afternoon, I started prepared to Eufy the lower part of the living room, and discovered water falling onto the coffee table. Yikes! The office was wet and the  craft area was flooded, as was the entry. 

Dinner was Shish Taouk—Lebanese Chicken Skewers* (web; GD). Used aiguillettes rather than chunking bits of kip filet. For a side, there was Grilled Zucchini with Zaatar, Garlic, and Labneh (web), but without the labneh or any toppings. Pretty good. As was the Moroccan couscous. For after, a pair of dark chocolate-covered madeleines.

Friday/18-Jun-21: Went to the butcher today and got a jarret de porc, demi-sel (ham hock) and some rumpsteak for dinner while Bill is here. Put the jarret on to cook. Left it overnight to sit in its salty juice.

Dinner was Orecchiette with Peas, Shrimp and Buttermik-Herb Dressing* (web, GD)  For after, a pair of dark chocolate-covered madeleines.

Put the chicken to marinate for Ping Gai Chicken* (web; GD; GD). Started the broth for Lemon-Buttermilk Sherbet (Scoop, p117).

Saturday/19-Jun-21: Reheated the jarret, then pulled the meat into shreds. Froze some of the broth and Kept the rest for risotto.

Finished the broth for the Lemon-Buttermilk Sherbet this morning. Spent most of the day cleaning and clearing up. It seems like for Covid-time I've not put much away, so all flat surfaces were busy with Stuff. 

Late in the afternoon, I assembled the salad and the sauce for Thai Cucumber Salad with Peanuts (web; HandyBook).

Bill arrived this evening, a bit later than expected. Ed barbecued the chicken, while I made rice and assembled the salad. The rain stopped, so we sat outside to eat and enjoy the cooler temp.

Dinner wast Ping Gai Chicken, Thai cucumber salad, and rice, with Lemon-Buttermilk Sherbet and strawberries for after.

Sunday/20-Jun-21: We had lunch out today, a delicious Father's Day lunch, although none of us are fathers. 

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 3 #2 PHOTO: yes; #3 *DMA: yes
This month: #4 GUESTS: n/a
This year: #5 BACKLOG1: no; #6 BACKLOG2: no; #7 RECYCLE: 11; #8 NEW: 4

This week in the kitchen

Monday/9-Nov-20: Dinner was a half dose of an old Allerhande recipe, Farfalle with Smoked Salmon Sauce and Broccoli (MC). Didn't really have enough salmon, but that was okay. Used mafalda, which is much nicer, instead of farfalle. Mini cups of HD ice cream for after.

Tuesday/10-Nov-20: Yogurt on overday. 

Made a loaf of Italian Bread (BigGerman, p17) (Basic/Rapid/L/d/-). All T65 flour.

Dinner was Sheet-Pan Harissa Chicken with Carrots and Cauliflower (web). This was good, It's easy to make, but takes a bit of time. It's a one-dish meal. I had four thighs, so made a half recipe. The half dose of the marinade was just enough for the thighs; I had to make up a bit more for the veggies. We pigged out for afters and had 1) a cube of Pavé s'Affinois (cheese), 2) a slice of the new bread (yes!), and 3) two squares of chocolate.

Wednesday/11-Nov-20: Dinner was an halfish dose of Butternut Squash with Pecans and Blue Cheese (web), made with the remains of last week's potimarron. Unfortunately some of the squash got a bit past the done state. Served over short-grain brown rice. Good as a whole; would have been better without burnt squash. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each for after.

Thursday/12-Nov-20: Picked up a grocery order from Intermarché today, so it was fish for dinner. 

We had Trota Salmonata all'Aceto Balsamico (TuscKitch, p139), with regular salmon instead of salmon trout. I thought about doing it in a skillet like last week's one-sided salmon, but instead baked in it in the oven. It was good. Served with polenta and steamed broccoli.

Friday/13-Nov-20: Made another loaf of Italian Bread (BigGerman, p19) (Basic/Rapid/M/d/-), this time using 2cups bread flour (T65) and 1cup white whole wheat flour (T110). I didn't remember that I'd made the large loaf last time, so there are two variables in this loaf.

Dinner was a half recipe of Farfalle with Cauliflower and Turkey Sausage (web; CL/dec08). Pretty good stuff, and easy. I used more sausage than asked (four of six in the package, the other two will make sandwiches for lunch), but it didn't feel like too much. Should have made a salad, but was too lazy.

Saturday/14-Nov-20: Made up the chocolate broth for tomorrow's ice cream, and put the chickie on to marinate. No more oomph for cooking, so it was pizza for dinner.

Sunday/15-Nov-20: Made a 1-1/2# loaf of DeDe's Buttermik Bread (MagicHints, p142, which is slightly different from the same recipe in Magic, p16) (Basic/Rapid/M/d/-). I used 2cups of bread flour (T65) and 1cup of white whole wheat flour (T110). Good stuff.

It was a special meal today because it was Ed's birthday and we couldn't go out. We started with artichoke bottoms, spread with green tapenade, topped with a bit of chabichou (a localish goat cheese), run under the broiler till it's all melty and the cheese is turning browning. 

Our main was Butterflied Grilled Chicken with a Chile-Lime Rub (web), with the chicken cooked like this. Very yummy it was. We had grits, and broccoli-and-corn for sides. 

Dessert was Aztec "Hot" Chocolate Ice Cream (Scoop, p29), which is still yummy.

We ate well, but no pictures.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 3; #2 BACKLOG: no
This month: #3 GUESTS: n/a
This year: #4 SHORT: no; #5 LONG: no
On-going: #6 READ; #7 RECYCLE; #8 NEW

This week in the kitchen

Monday/9-Jul-18: Easy meal today. We ate the rest of the Baked Rishta (Noodles) with Eggplant, which was still very good. Served with Michoteta—Cream Cheese and Cucumber Salad (Roden, p65). The "cream cheese" here is feta, and the salad is delicious. Some cherries for dessert.

Tuesday/10-Jul-18: Lunch out in Poitiers today. Nothing happened in the kitchen.

Wednesday/11-Jul-18: Lunch out in Villebois-Lavalette today. Then an ENT appointment following by shopping at Grand Frais and Biocoop. Nothing happened in the kitchen, except ...

Yogurt on overnight.

Thursday/12-Jul-18: Shopping today.

Dinner was Lemon Salmon Piccata (web). This is definitely a do-me-again. Served with the French "short spaghetti", which is short piece of hollow "spaghetti" shaped like a bass clef (without the dots). And there was corn on the cob from Grand Frais. And some Brillat Savarin, on sale at Grand Frais yesterday. And some green melon from Grand Frais. Then we finished the box of chocolate covered corn flakes. At least one of us is stuffed.

While that was going on, I made up the broth for some Fresh Apricot Ice Cream (Scoop, p76) for tomorrow's dinner.

Friday/13-Jul-18: Patrice and Wim came for dinner this evening. We had melon with pineau for a starter, a quarter melon each. Ed barbecued Grilled Chicken (Roden, p179; cookbooker). Little Ian from Cantique recommended Rice with Fava Beans (Roden, p344), so I made that, a half recipe, with about 800g of favas. (I parboiled and peeled these.) Had planned another salad, but ended up making my favorite salad, Michoteta—Cream Cheese and Cucumber Salad (Roden, p65), again. The Fresh Apricot Ice Cream was yummy.

Saturday/14-Jul-18: Out for dinner with Patrice and Wim tonight. Nothing happened in the kitchen except ...

Yogurt on overnight.

Sunday/15-Jul-18: Our meal was Stir-Fried Chicken & Broccoli with Mango Chutney (web; EW/mar-apr18). Used turkey scallops instead of kip filets. The two of us ate a whole recipe that should serve 4. With fruit for dessert.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 2; #3 COOKBOOK: yes
Cookbooks of the month: A Book of Middle Eastern Food
This month: #4 PASTA: no; #5 BREAD: no; #6 GUESTS: yes

This week in the kitchen

Monday/31-Jul-17: Dinner from odds and ends in the fridge tonight. Sautéed onions, mushrooms, garlic, and a quarter of a cabbage. Added some tomato sauce, a bit of chicken stock, and some tomato paste. Served over brown rice. It was good, and better after grinding on some red pepper. Some mini Haagen-Dasz cups for dessert.

Tuesday/1-Aug-17: More odds and ends today. The lovely Indian tomato-cream sauce over pasta. Some corn on the cob Ed bought at Intermaché last week. A salad. That was all.

Made some ground roast cumin, since I'd used the last that I had.

Wednesday/2-Aug-17: Shopping today.

Dinner was lieu noir, marinated with Marinade for Grilled Fish (MC). That was boring boring boring; can't think why I bothered to save it. And a side of graminge, the funny "short spaghetti" I bought for a dish in April; might need to get some more of this if they still have it.

Starting to attack the burgeoning zucchini surplus from the potager, we had Zucchini Chile-Cheddar Mash (web); an instant favorite. I made the whole recipe with a single zuke weighing in just over one pound. We loved it, but couldn't finish. It wants a can of chopped chiles (mine are hand-chopped), so hard to cut it back.

Yogurt on overnight.

Thursday/3-Aug-17: Earlyish meal today. There was Spiced Lamb Pilaf (web); I think this is really a biryani, but I won't tell if you don't. Tasty, but ... the amount of rice is way too much. Other recipes use 2 cups of basmati rice to serve four. We ate all this, but were stuffed. With less rice, the lamb and peas would shine more instead of being buried in rice. Also, she seems to toss the water that the lamb was cooked in; I strained it (to remove the spices, although I'm not sure that was needed) and topped it up with a bit of water for cooking the rice. Served with North African Zucchini Salad with Garlic, Chili Paste & Caraway (MedHot, p87). We've liked this before but didn't eat much today. First, too much rice; second, I got a bit sloppy measuring the vinegar so it was sourer than it needed to be. OK for me but not for Ed.

Friday/4-Aug-17: Earlyish meal today. We had Scallops with Lemon-Basil Sauce (web). As suggested I served with Buttery Angel Hair Pasta with Parmesan Cheese (for two: 4oz angel hair, 1/4cup Parmesan, 1tbl butter). Now I see that the scallops should be served atop the pasta; I served them "with" the pasta, next to it on the plate. Still good, though.

As a side, there was, yes, zucchini, as Zucchini Chunks with Citrus and Mint (web). This was easy and good.

Saturday/5-Aug-17: Made up the broth for Cantaloupe Sorbet (Scoop, p111). Of course I added some pineau (vieux) to the mix.

Dinner was a third recipe of Huevos Façon Cocotte aux Olives et Xipirones (VPG; web). (Xiripones seems to be squid in Spanish.) Interesting, not bad, but don't need to do it again. Served with my embroidery on the Salade de Haricots Blancs aux Épices (VPG) that was recommended as a starter. This turned out pretty good. For two, a drained can of white beans, most of a smallish red onion, thinly sliced, and some chopped parsley with a dressing of sesame oil, lemon juice, ground cumin, paprika, and ginger. Easy and tasty. Some mini magnums (one classic, one white) for dessert.

Sunday/6-Aug-17: It was supposed to be fresh pasta today, but I didn't feel like it. So we had Marcella Hazan's famous tomato sauce (from the freezer) with store-bought spaghettoni (also from the freezer). And a salad full of goodies. And a Haagen-Dasz mini cup for dessert.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 5
This month: #3 PASTA: yes for July, no for August; #4 BREAD: no for July, no for August

This week in the kitchen

Monday/8-Aug-16: In the morning, put chicken to marinate, using Basic White Wine Marinade for Chicken and Fish (Twenty, p294). Made Dilled Potato-Cucumber Salad (MC; web). Had planned to grill zucchini slices, but noticed box of shrooms in the fridge, so put Grilled Marinated Mushrooms (web) on to marinate.

Patrice and Wim for dinner. Ed grilled Butterflied Chicken with Lemon-Tarragon Butter Baste (Twenty, p295). And the mushrooms. All was good.

Froze up Chocolate Sorbet (Scoop, p120; C&Z's version here). That was good. So rich, you wouldn't believe it was a sorbet (no milk or cream). Yum.

Tuesday/9-Aug-16: Worked on the menu plan a bit today. Figured out that I can put off shopping till Friday, which is a bit relief since the next days (and weekend) are so busy.

Dinner was two A Two-Egg Masala Omelette (MJ@Home, p75), accompanied by Cucumber Salad, North Indian Salad (MJ@Home, p236), which is similar to the Spicy Cucumber Sticks that I make frequently, but with mint and without cumin. Yes, working on that cucumber backlog. No dessert.

Wednesday/10-Aug-16: Out in the evening, so we had an early meal, the leftover Schinkenfleckern and a salad. That's all folks.

Thursday/11-Aug-16: Both of us off for the doctor's open hours this evening. Pizza afterwards.

Yogurt on overnight.

Friday/12-Aug-16: Ate out tonight for Wim's birthday. Nothing further in the kitchen.

Saturday/13-Aug-16: Planned to go for a wine tasting today and pick up a wine packet I bought at a charity auction. But no, the car's muffler had come disconnected (broken pipe on the engine side). Ed took it to a local shop and got a patch. Still have to have it fixed.

So, I defrosted some duck breast bits. Cooked those and made Balsamic Vinegar Pan Sauce (HowTo, p165), which is good and really easy. Served with Dusolier's Roasted Potatoes and a vegetable melange of fava beans from the garden, half a red bell pepper, some haricots verts, and a tomato. All good. Mini magnums after.

Zucchinis from the potager are starting to accumulate. Need to start working on those.

Sunday/14-Aug-16: Late start today. Didn't make any of the markets, but went to a recital given by one of Ed's choirmates.

For munchies before dinner, I tossed the rest of the Lemon and Sour-Cream Dressing with some leftover haricot vert from yesterday. That was good, especially topped with some black pepper.

Dinner was Classic Sesame Noodles with Chicken (web; cookbooker). I used leftover chicken from Monday's meal. Mini magnums for dessert, since I forgot to set the Chocolate Sorbet out.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 1
This month: #3 PASTA: yes/no; #4 BREAD: yes/no; #5 FotW: yes for Jul/Aug

This week in the kitchen

Monday/27-Jun-16: Shelled my kilo of fava beans today.

Dinner was Marinated Chicken Breasts (Angostura, p47), a half recipe with two kip filets, on the bbq. Easy and very tasty. Served with Potato Salad with Bacon Bits and Mangetout Salad with Mustard Dressing (web). The mangetout (snow peas) salad used up the rest of the peas that I had. I liked this a lot; Ed thought it was okay. I also liked the potato salad, and was surprised that Ed liked it, since he usually doesn't go for vinegary things. A pari of chocolate squares each for dessert.

Tuesday/28-Jun-16: Parboiled and peeled the fava beans for dinner, which was Spaghetti con Fave e Pomodoro (Lorenza, p102). This wasn't a favorite from this book, which is usually pretty dependable. I used too much tomato purée, but, still, the whole thing didn't come together quite right. The fava beans were lost in the sauce. It asked for colored spaghetti (red, green, or yellow), but I used plain old linguine without color. Then a salad with leftover blue cheese dressing. Then we each had a bit of morbier, bought on sale last week.

Wednesday/29-Jun-16: Another stab at Northwest, there were Basque Potatoes for dinner. Followed by a big salad using the rest of the mustard dressing from Monday's salad. Then Ed went off to choir practice. (This concert is Friday night. Will be glad when it's over!)

Thursday/30-Jun-16: I shopped at Intermarché today while Ed was at his first choir practice of the day. Forgot to buy eggs, duh, so may have to go somewhere to get those.

Starting a day early for July's Cookbook Countdown, dinner was Spicy Pan-Fried Cod [need link to post]. I used the extra boiled potatoes from last night's dinner to make a reduced version of Spicy, Sour Potatoes with Cumin and Amchoor (SpiceKitch, p50). Used a zucchini to make a reduced version of Zucchini in a Yogurt Dressing (SpiceKitch, p58). Both of these are old favorites. Thinking the potatoes looked pretty skimpy, I also made some plain basmati rice. For dessert we had little store-bought chocolate mousse things.

Friday/1-Jul-16: Early lunch today before Ed went off the his choir performance. We had Insalata de Tonno e Patate—Tuna&Potato Salad (TuscTable, p125). Served on a plate lined with lettuce leaves. The salad was supposed to serve four, but it was a lovely meal for two.

Saturday/2-Jul-16: Busy morning in the kitchen:

• Picked last weekend's chicken and made stock from the bones.
• Made Oven-Roasted Tomatoes (HandyBook, MC)
• Make up the broth for Aztec "Hot" Chocolate Ice Cream (Scoop, p29). Only 1/2cup sugar (sucre de canne), 3tsp chipotle.
• Started Lime Pickle to set aside for 10 days. (That's the most asafoetida in one dish I've ever seen.)
• Cooked up hominy in the chicken stock. Froze two lots of 2 cups; used the rest for dinner.
• Made Tamarind & Date Chutney and froze half.
• Made Croutons (Art, p177)

Dinner was a made-up kind of chile/stew with hominy, xmas lima beans (from the freezer), cooked chicken, a can of green chiles, chopped, onion, garlic, and one of the mole mixes that Jody sent. This one was verde, I think. A tasty meal. Served with some corn tortillas from the freezer (didn't have the oomph to make them myself) and some so-so guacamole. Little ice creams for dessert.

Yogurt on overnight.

Sunday/3-Jul-16: We had our main meal early today so we could go to a concert in the early evening. We had Shrimp with Curry Leaves and Fenugreek accompanied by Jeera Rice. As a go-with there were some Spicy Cucumber Wedges (MJ1, p172). All were yummy. For dessert, I froze the Aztec Hot Chocolate Ice Cream I made yesterday. Yummy stuff. And, yes, hot. I put in the max suggested amount of chipotle powder, which was maybe a bit too much. But very very good.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 3
This month: #3 PASTA: no for Jun; no for Jul; #4 BREAD: no for Jun; no for Jul  #5 FotW: yes for May/Jun; no for Jul/Aug

This week in the kitchen

Monday/21-Sep-15: Went to Planet Exotica for a (Groupon) day outing. Dinner was mostly from the freezer, some Indian-ish spicy sauce with cooked chicken added, served over brown rice, with Karhai Broccoli (p148, MJ@Home) for a veggie matter. I had one square of chocolate for dessert.

Had a quick look at some of my herb and spice books during dinner. Oh dear, an untapped source of recipes!

Tuesday/22-Sep-15: Yogurt on overday. Well, it started out that way. Ed went to work on the clock on the stove (and fixed it!) and had to turn the electricity off, but didn't think about the yogurt. Three hours or more I noticed that it was off. Tossed it all. This batch has gotten pretty sour, so I think we'll just buy some for the short term. Did notice that the middle jar was pretty far along in the cooking while the outer jars were not. So looks like the heat is not being spread as well as it ought to be. Think the next yogurt maker will not be Moulinex in spite of the investment we have in jars.

Dinner was Moroccan-Spiced Scallops and Lentils (web; Feb2009 Bon Appetit). Not sure where I picked this magazine up; it's not one I usually get. Made some couscous to go with it, but we didn't use them. Served with Crushed Spiced Carrot Salad (p78, Morocco), a favorite. For dessert, we had a pair of toetjes I got at the boulangerie after our dentist checkups.

Wednesday/23-Sep-15: Out this morning having a tour of a tannery. Leftover enchiladas and rice for dinner (yea, oven!), with some cilantro-less guacamole. That was all.

Thursday/24-Sep-15: Started on the next squash, making Squash and Cardamom Pie (p101, O&C) for dinner. (Using pine nuts, and coucsous instead of rice or bulgur.) Well, I thought it was dinner, until I put it in the oven and saw that it wanted to cook for an hour and a half. Quickly made a salad from the rest of the leftover couscous and called that dinner. It was good. Followed by freshly frozen Cheesecake Ice Cream (p62, Scoop; cookbooker). Yes, frozen cheesecake is what it tastes like. Good stuff.

Friday/25-Sep-15: Ed gathered some figs from the neighbor's tree, so I've been doing lots of figgy things.

• Made a half dose of Sticky Fig Jam (p195, PutEmUp), giving two AH jars. Tiny sample tasted OK. This one has balsamic vinegar in it. Since the strawberry balsamic jam was so good, I thought this would be worth a try.
• Made a half dose of Fig and Lime Jam (web; CL/jun10). Not sure about this one. It burnt on the bottom, so I only got one jar. We'll see how it is. 
• Made a Fresh Fig Galette (web; CL/aug15). The crust was tasty, but wouldn't roll out at all. Instead of making a free-form galette, I pressed it into a big pie plate, folding the edges over like a galette. Pretty tasty.
• Made Baked Figs and Goat Cheese (web) scaled down for two. This should have been our starter, but Ed was really hungry so we had it as our second course. 

Had the squash and cardamom pie for our first course. It was so-so. The squash is strangely sweet and there was a bit too much lemon juice perhaps. Not a winner. Slices of fig galette for dessert with a bit of cheesecake ice cream or cream.

Saturday/26-Sep-15: The fig galette was yummy for breakfast.

Shopping today, yes, on Saturday. Unexpectedly, it wasn't especially crowded, and everything was pretty well stocked. We walked out with vanilla yogurt instead of plain. Luckily I spotted it while we were packing up and I took it back directly and got the plain one I meant to get.

Dinner was Dorade Citron Vert et Piment d'Esplelette (VPG). Okay, but nothing special. Very badly written recipe. You chop up some new onions, but never use them. I even read the recipe aloud to Ed thinking I must have overlooked something. No. They wanted you to roast thin filets at 210C (400F) for 20 minutes. No.

Served with Salt-and-Vinegar Roasted Potatoes (web). This was a hit. This is similar to Dusolier' roasted potatoes, half-cooked by boiling (with cider vinegar in the water), then shaken (I added this), then baked. Yum. Also some Roasted Zucchini (web), with the zucchini sliced as Clotilde Dusolier suggests. Another keeper. Two out of three isn't bad.

Some mini magnums for after.

Sunday/27-Sep-15: The fig galette has been very good for breakfast these last days.

Oven-roasted tomatoes in the oven.

After considering how many veggies were in the fridge needing to be used up, I changed the dinner plans at the last minute. We had an assortment of dishes, served with pita breads. There was:

• Aubergine & Chickpea Salad (sep11 Jamie; can't find on web). This used the eggplant from the potager. Made about half a recipe since the eggplant wasn't very big. Eggplant grilled, tossed with couscous, chickpeas, ras el hanout, lemon juice, paprika, cumin, and chopped cilantro. Good.
• Oven-Roasted Cauliflower with Garlic, Olive Oil and Lemon Juice (web). A nice-looking cauliflower jumped into my cart yesterday. Used the first bit tonight. This was good, not especially North African, but it went especially well with ...
• Cilantro Zucchini Hummus (web). No chickpeas, so not really hummus, but delicious. I did not peel my zucchini and it was a prettier color than pictured. Yummy.

I was going to make another hummus also, using the chickpeas left from the eggplant salad, but discovered I didn't have a backup jar of tahini. Oops. Inventory fail. So that will wait another day. Didn't really need it, I guess, since we were quite full after eating and the leftovers are minimal.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 UNUSED: yes; #3 GRAINS: yes; #4 VEG/FISH: 5
This month: #5 PASTA: yes; #6 BREAD: yes; #7 FotW: no for September/October

This week in the kitchen

Monday/17-Aug-15: Despite good intentions, nothing interesting happened in the kitchen today. We had our main meal in the afternoon, the rest of the salty beans and ham with potatoes added. Can't say the potatoes helped with the saltiness.

Ed failed Clothes Washing 101 today. I have a new dark blue denim top. I put it in a pile of jeans to be washed. Ed retrieved it from there and washed it with a bunch of ... whites! He now has a lovely blue v-necked tshirt.

Tuesday/18-Aug-15: Using up ripe bananas from the freezer and fresh. First I made a loaf of Mesquite Banana Bread (web). Then I made Banana Nut Bread 2 (MC), which is a recipe I've changed so much that I ought to retype it and call it mine.

Dinner was a halfish recipe of Shrimp and Broccoli Stir-Fry (web). The broccoli bits need to be teeninsy to work properly. Mine were what I'd call small, but I let them steam in the sauce a bit before adding the shrimp back to the wok. Tasty sauce. Over brown basmati rice.

Wednesday/19-Aug-15: Finished up cleaning house for Sam and Pat today.

Dinner was Eendenborstfilet met Hoisinsaus (Tip mag, web), sort of. I had duck aiguillettes, rather than a breast with the skin attached. No bok choy in the shop, so I used spinach. It was OK, not wonderful. We shared the last classic magnum from the freezer for dessert. Then some squares of proper chocolate to leave a better taste in the mouth.

Thursday/20-Aug-15: In the morning, mixed up the broth for Fleur de Lait (p133, Scoop). Not enough milk, so used UHT milk instead; only 1/2cup (rather than 3/4cup) sugar.

Sam and Pat were delayed leaving Houston, so arrived here later than expected, so we did our shopping before they arrived. For dinner we just had a simple bbq and off to bed fairly early. Again made the Spatchcocked Chicken Under a Brick (web; cookbooker), this time using a bit of the tandoori masala that I made up a few days ago. Served with corn on the cob and a bit salad. Ended with the Fleur de Lait ice cream, which was quite passable.

Friday/21-Aug-15: We toured Villebois-Lavallette, town and chateau, with Sam and Pat, then lunched at one of our favorite restaurants. Cheese and munchies for the evening.

Saturday/22-Aug-15: Reviewing this book, I discovered this is where I found the yassa recipe I made a while ago. I've been wanting to have that again, so I made Yassa au Poulet—Marinated Chicken Braised in Lemon-and-Onion Sauce (p68, TLAfrica; cookbooker).

I served with plain rice, as suggested, and Green Beans with Sour Sauce (p84, TLAfrica). An interesting sauce here that went well with the chicken. The recipe wants a "small double boiler" for the sauce. Who has a small double-boiler? I used the smallest pyrex bowl set onto a pan of simmering water.

Lots of sauce from the chicken for serving on the rice.

Sunday/23-Aug-15: Indian night tonight. We started with Spicy Cucumber Wedges (p172, MJ1), an old favorite. Then Scallops in Spinach-Tomato Curry Sauce (p72, Q&E), which we've had before. Really yummy. And plain rice. For dessert, there was Nectarine Sorbet (p125, Scoop; cookbooker), which was really nice.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 UNUSED: no; #3 GRAINS: no; #4 VEG/FISH: 2
This month: #5 PASTA: no; #6 BREAD: no; #7 FotW: yes for July; holiday for August

This week in the kitchen

Monday/23-Jun-14: Just looking through PastaCarlu and noticed where he says, "Making your own pasta dough will probably take you about 30 minutes for the actual preparation, but you will get quicker with practice." Well, yes, I have gotten quicker with practice. That means I can get cut pasta made in about an hour, not counting the cleanup. He must be some kind of speed demon. Ah, he's speaking only of making the dough, not the cutting, I see. So 30 minutes is probably more than enough.

A Mediterraneanish meal for IHCC tonight (RealFast, p119; cookbooker). Served the pasta with a big salad. Then we had some ice cream (the last mini magnum for me, the last classic magnum for Ed) as we walked to Barbara's to water plants.

Tuesday/24-Jun-14: Shopping today.

Dinner was remarkably like last Friday's fish dinner. Poor planning on my part. This time Fish Tacos with Mango Salsa Verde (web). The salsa verde was with green tomato (the first tomato in the garden), rather than tomatillo as you might expect. I did the fish like last week too. Cornmeal mixed with Old Bay blackening seasoning this time, and pressed into the fish (eglefin, haddock), which I then sprayed with olive oil before broiling. Works a treat this. Found some whole wheat tortillas to us. Pretty good, especially with a good sprinkle of chipotle faux-tabasco. For dessert, a slice each of tourteau fromager. Bought strawberries to go with the cake, but didn't feel like prepping them. Tomorrow.

Wednesday/25-Jun-14: Yogurt on overday.

Nothing happened in the kitchen today. We went to the marché des producteurs in La Rochefoucauld this evening, the first of the seasons. Had pigeon brochettes and pigeon sausages. Bought some of the sausages for the freezer.

Thursday/26-Jun-14: A busy afternoon in the kitchen. Poached four kip filets for meals in the near future. Froze up the juice to use as a light stock. Used the strawberries I bought Tuesday to make Strawberry-Sour Cream Ice Cream (Scoop, p90) for the freezer. Made Easy Berry Cobbler (MC, Handybook) with the mixed berries we've been collecting at Barbara's while we water, along with a couple of the smallest strawberries and some frozen blueberries. Went to make dinner and discovered that the eggplants I bought were rotten. Seems to be a too frequent occurrence which I buy bio/organic produce. So instead of eggplant and zucchini, there was only zucchini in Grilled Eggplant & Zucchini Salad Recipe with Feta, Chickpeas, & Mint (web). This was good and easy, nothing fancy. The recipe says it serves six; this must be as a side dish. As a main, it was good for two, splitting one can of chickpeas and some zucchini. For dessert there was the cobbler, warm from the oven, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream

Friday/27-Jun-14: A keeper dinner tonight. I made a halfish recipe of Buckwheat Noodles with Green Beans & Toasted Sesame-Lime Vinaigrette (web) using one of the chicken breasts I poached yesterday. Made the buckwheat noodles from scratch (3/4cup buckwheat flour, 1/4cup tipo 00 flour, 1/4tsp salt, ~3tbl water) since there seem to be no soba-type noodles to be found in the area. The salad and noodles were extra yummy. For dessert we had some of yesterday's cobbler. Yay, we'll get three sittings out of it this time. Sometimes we eat it all in two sittings.

Yogurt on overnight.

Saturday/28-Jun-14: Used one of my poached chicken breasts to make up some Curried Chicken Salad (Rosie, p34; MC) for tomorrow's proposed Open Gardens outing. (The weather's not looking too promising, so we might end up skpping this.) Froze the rest of them.

Dinner at the Fête de la Motte this evening. They had a tent set up to keep people out of the rain, but apparently didn't count heads well so there weren't enough seats. Probably too windy for the bonfire. We left early, not really having a place to park ourselves.

Sunday/29-Jun-14: Sally and I visited four gardens today, while Ed slept in. Both of us had chicken salad for lunch. Good stuff.

For dinner I defrosted some saucisses à l'Indienne and Ed bbq'd them. Pretty tasteless in spite of the curry powder. To be avoided in future. Served with New Potatoes with Cumin (Q&E, p91), followed by the world's simplest salad, lettuce and vinaigrette. For afters, we finished off the berry cobbler.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 COOKBOOKS: yes; #2 VEG/FISH: 3
This month: #3 PASTA: yes; #4 FotW: no for June; #5 BREAD: 0

This week in the kitchen

Monday/22-Jul-13: A busy day today. Tosca & Mike arrived in the area today, and came with Patrice & Wim to dinner.

Before they arrived, I made Nigella Lawson's Watermelon, Feta, and Black Olive Salad (MC, web). Started to make Jaffrey's zucchini salad with feta, but replanned when I realized that would be two feta salads. Duh. I did a bit of searching and made Shaved Zucchini Salad with Parmesan and Pine Nuts (web) instead. I knew it looked familiar and indeed I made it last summer. Finished off the sauce for Orange Sriracha Chicken (web). We moved the dining table outside to eat.

We had a bottle of champagne (a gift to Ed from his Montbron choir friends) to start, along with various sausages, olives, and cornichons.

Then we had the grilled chicken, along with some extra sausages, and the two salads. All were hits.

Then we had an opulent cheese platter, followed by the apricot tart and Fresh Apricot Ice Cream (Scoop, p76), which was also a keeper.

Tuesday/23-Jul-13: Yogurt on overday.

A Groupon dinner a La Ribaudière, so nothing happened in the kitchen.

Wednesday/24-Jul-13: Yogurt on overday.

Dinner out with Jody and Steve, Tosca and Mike, and Patrice and Wim. Not much else in the kitchen today.

Thursday/25-Jul-13: Lunch in La Roche after some shopping, then shopping while Jody and Steve packed, then dinner at a marché des producteurs.

Friday/26-Jul-13: Omelets with a mushroom, lardon, and chipotle flake filling this morning to see Jody and Steve on their way.

For dinner we had the rest of Jody's lamb stew augmented with some potatoes.

Saturday/27-Jul-13: Dinner was Warm Broccoli and Potato Salad (MDSalads, p15). While I was making this, we munched on the watermelon from Monday evening; that held up surprisingly well. Some double chocolate mini magnums for dessert.

Picked about a pint of blueberries and one zucchini this evening.

Sunday/28-Jul-13: Yogurt on overday.

This was cleaning out the fridge night, not that the fridge got cleaned out, but at least I made a dent. We had an odd lot of dishes including:

• Corn on the cob I bought on Thursday.
• Zucchini hummus (web) using the year's first zucchini. This is essentially hummus with zucchini replacing the chickpeas; pretty good. Serve with carrot and red bell pepper sticks for dipping.
• A made-up dish using the already boiled potatoes from the fridge, along with a couple of small, newly boiled ones from the sack, topped with some sautéed shallots, slices of the last of the bbq'd sausages, and some slices of chaource, then baked for a while. Pretty darn good for practically no work. Ed added some slices of blue cheese (fourme d'Ambert) at the table, while I ate my extra cheese on a slice of stale bread.
• The shaved zucchini salad from Monday. A surprise to me that it didn't keep very well. I think it was the mint that added a strange, sharp taste, especially to the zukes. 

No post for Ottolenghi this week or last, neither have I cooked from a seldom used cookbook. Maybe next week I'll get back in the groove. Only one vegetarian meal, no pasta or bread yet in July. Not doing very well here!

Went to bring in the laundry this evening (mostly mattress pads) and found them covered with little bugs like mini ladybugs. The pad under the hazelnut tree was especially covered.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 IHCC/COOKBOOKS: no, #2 VEG/FISH: 1
This month: #3 PASTA: no, #4 BREAD: no

This week in the kitchen

Monday/4-Jun-12: Ed worked to install the new exhaust fan over the stove today, and out for a quiz this evening, so nothing happening in the kitchen.

Tuesday/5-Jun-12: The new exhaust fan is in! The stove is brightly lit now and any the dirty bits are very visible. There's a button you can press to turn the fan off after 10 minutes. Might be a nice feature.

Dinner was Broccoli, Leek, and Blue Cheese Pie (web). Very tasty it was. It was supposed to have a top crust. Mine had kind of a cap, but wasn't completely covered, since a package of puff pastry (pâte feuilleté) covered a round pie plate without enough to spare for a proper lid. So it wasn't very pretty, but it was tasty. Then a salad. Then some double chocolate mini-Magnums.

Wednesday/6-Jun-12: Shopping today. Impulse buy was two kilos of apricots to make jam. Did I really need to do that, I wonder?

Dinner was Easy Crumbly, Mustardly Salmon (web), which was good, although I didn't do the bit about searing the bottom, just put the fish under the broiler. Served with trio rice and the rest of the asparagus. For dessert there was Tarte au Fromage Blanc et aux Fruits Rouges (VPG). I'd just seen the recipe this morning and bought what I needed at the shop. Yum!

Thursday/7-Jun-12: Working on Barbara's strawberries, I started Rosy Strawberry Preserves (FJCanning, p294). These have to sit 24 hours before being finished off. The headnote for this recipe says:

Cook a batch daily while getting lunch during the strawberry season

Right. This only made a small dent, so I also made Strawberry Sorbet (Scoop, p128). There's still another quart of this batch of strawberries left, and they gave us more still today.

Dinner was Stir-Fried Lamb with Garlic and Basil (QuickWok, p92), pretty tasty. Served over rice with some haricots verts tossed with sesame oil. Then we finished off the pavé affinée. Then we had slices of the tart (which was supposed to serve four, but I'm thinking eight would have been fine; we're making six unless we stretch out the next bits). Then we had some truffles. Oink.

Yogurt on overnight.

Friday/8-Jun-12: Quiz and dinner tonight, so nothing much happened in the kitchen except for making another batch of Strawberry Balsamic Jam (web), without the pepper, since that didn't seem to add all that much. Meanwhile Barbara brought still more strawberries.

Saturday/9-Jun-12: Trying to use up strawberries today. (Apricots tomorrow). Made a batch of  Strawberry-Sour Cream Ice Cream (Scoop, p90), using the rest of some fromage blanc for the heavy cream. Tasted pretty good.

Found an interesting jam recipe that doesn't require cooking (except for dissolving pectin in water), so made "Best-Ever" (Frozen) Jam (PuttingBy, p294). Not exactly a catchy name, is it? I freeze most of the jam I make (in lieu of proper canning), so that part is not a big deal. The no-cooking part is nice, though. Finger licking after filling jars tasted fine.

Made the "broth" for Strawberry Sorbet (Scoop, p128). Will freeze it tomorrow after the freezer bucket has re-frozen. Yay! No strawberries in the house.

For lunch we finished the Broccoli, Leek, and Blue Cheese Pie. For dinner we had Five-Alarm Lentil Soup from the freezer.

Sunday/10-Jun-12: Today was apricot jam day, using my old French teacher's recipe, except there were no almost slivers to be found. Froze up the Strawberry Sorbet for the freezer.

Dinner was West Indian Salmon Patties from the freezer, with some grilled eggplant slices and some trio rice. Followed by some Strawberry Frozen Yogurt.

Buckwheat Bread (BigGerman, p38) on overnight.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 COOKBOOKS: yes, #2 BREAD: yes, #3 SOUP: yes, #4 MIDDAY: no, #5 VEG/FISH: 4
This month: #6 PASTA: yes

This week in the kitchen

Monday/28-May-12: Home from our travels today. Which was a holiday, so Sally did some shopping for us yesterday. (Forgot to ask her to get some apples and bananas, so we're fruitless for a few days.)

Made an easy dinner, including pasta for two. Brought water to a boil and added chunks of broccoli. Sautéed garlic and red pepper flakes, then tossed in the (drained) broccoli while the pasta cooked. Stirred the drained pasta together with the broccoli, some goat cheese, and some of the pasta water. That was it, and good it was. Followed by a salad.

Tuesday/29-May-12: Barbara brought us more than 2 quarts of strawberries today. Ate a bunch for lunch. Made a half dose of Strawberry-Sour Cream Ice Cream (Scoop, p90).

Dinner was Barley, Broccoli, and Cannellini Bean Soup from the freezer, topped up with the remains of yesterday's broccoli head. Good it was. Then we ate all of the ice cream, which was very good.

Wednesday/30-May-12: Shopped this a.m. Dinner was a half recipes of Pork Chops with Red Pepper Grits (MC), which I've made many times before. My grits were out of date and probably buggy (darn, didn't think to get any while we were in the US), so I used polenta; also didn't use the roasted red pepper strips. Served with some fava beans. Then a salad.

Yogurt on overnight.

Thursday/31-May-12: The yogurt that I bought for a starter has an unappealing texture, a bit lumpy and weeping. Ed will get more today after choir practice. Still, have to use up this batch. So, today's ice cream is Strawberry Frozen Yogurt (Scoop, p91). Still have a pint or so of strawberries left, maybe for a sorbet tomorrow.

Dinner was a half recipe of Madhur Jaffrey's Shrimp Biryani (web), not bad at all. Accompanied by old favorites, Carrot and Onion Salad (MJ1, p171) and Yoghurt with Cucumber and Mint (MJ1, p162) aka raita. We were too full to have any frozen yogurt for dessert, but I licked the spoon after putting it in the freezer and it's pretty good.

Sigh, another month gone by without pasta. Thought I might manage today, but it didn't work.

Friday/1-June-12: Dinner was Baked Eggs with Yogurt and Chilli, a recipe all over the web, from Yotam Ottolenghi's Plenty, which looks like a book that's going to be high on my xmas list. It was easy and good. I've collected a number of similar recipes in the last months, with spinach or arugula/rockets for the base, eggs baked in, and topped with a yogurt sauce. Yum.

For after we had some pavé d'affinois, one of our favorite cheap cheeses, followed by some Strawberry Frozen Yogurt. All yum.

Saturday/2-June-12: Barbara brought us yet another load of strawberries, two liters/quarts, at least. I dug out a recipe I'd saved but never made last year, Strawberry Balsamic Jam with and without Black Pepper (web). Had the right amount of strawberries, but ended up with only about one and a half pints, rather than four; no explanation. The finger-licking bit was quite good. We'll see how it is in the morning.

Dinner was (sort of) Buckwheat Noodles with Green Beans and Toasted Sesame-Lime Vinaigrette (web). Had to made the noodles, since there were none to be found at the shop; no green beans at several shops, so used asparagus instead (I bet these should be kousebanden, yard-long beans, instead of green beans);  turkey left from Thanksgiving, rather than chicken or tofu; not quite enough sesame oil, filled out with peanut oil. Altogether a nice one-dish dinner for a warm night. Finished off with more Strawberry Frozen Yogurt.

Sunday/2-June-12: The Strawberry Balsamic Jam with Black Pepper is quite good. :-)

Lovely dinner with Barbara and David, to watch the queen's 60th jubilee float by (and get rained out) on TV.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 COOKBOOKS: no, #2 BREAD: no, #3 SOUP: yes, #4 MIDDAY: no, #5 VEG/FISH: 4
This month: #6 PASTA: yes (we'll count this for May), no (for June)

This week in the kitchen

Monday/26-Sep-11: Easy dinner tonight. The leftover Tuscan veggies over pasta. Then the last pair of crèmes caramels.

Tuesday/27-Sep-11: De-seeded and cooked up another wad of tomatoes today. And slow-roasted some boughten ones, although they didn't seem to get very dry after a long time in the oven. Hmm...

Dinner was Linguine al Cavolfiore, a recipe I haven't made since we discovered Ed's problem with tomatoes. Tonight I used some of the new batch of tomato sauce, and penne instead of linguine. Good stuff. Then a salad. Then the last of a bit of St. Marcellin.

Wednesday/28-Sep-11: Picked another two liters of raspberries at Barbara's today. (No fruit, it's a terrible diet she's on. Too bad it seems to be working.) Made Blueberry-Raspberry Pound Cake (Molly, p20). A nice cake, but a strange color from the blueberries and raspberries. Made a double dose of the "juice" for Raspberry-Champagne Sorbet (Scoop, p132); used the rest of the clairette de Die topped up with a bit of sweet dessert wine. Having used all my sugar for the cake, I used sucre de canne.

Dinner was Grilled Squid with Fennel Sausage, a recipe collected somewhere on the web. For the fennel sausage, I used Guiliano Hazan's sausage (that I keep in the freezer) with fennel seed added. The outdoor grilling part didn't work well, so we had to finish them off under the stove's grill. But very nice they were, if a bit later than intended. Served with a quickie "salsa" made with corn, chopped tomato, shallot, jalapeño (one of two we manage to harvest this year!), olive oil, S&P. And trio rice. A nice dinner, outside, candlelit. No dessert since we'd sampled the cake already.

Thursday/29-Sep-11: Yogurt on overday.

Fresh pasta tonight. While looking for what I'd make tonight, I found my missing cilantro pesto recipe! For tonight, I made Lemon Pepper Pasta (PastaMach, p65). The dough was a bit dry, so I had to add a bit of oil. Also, it didn't like being rolled out to 6, so I ended up at 5, which made a thickish pasta, still good. Also, my fettuccine cutter, which has trouble separating strands rolled at 6, worked fine at 5. A bit of a puzzle, but something to remember. For a sauce I made Lemon Cream Sauce (PastaMach, p161) and added about 200g of frozen, cooked shrimp. Easy and good. Then a salad using the end of our head of lettuce.

Friday/30-Sep-11: Shopped this a.m. Made up some Cilantro Pesto (PastaMach, p155, soon to be MC) and froze it up in small portions. Used the rest of Barbara's raspberries to make a quarter recipe of Peerless Red Raspberry Preserves (FancyPant, p124). Into the fridge with that.

For dinner there was a sorrel omelet. Couldn't find the recipe I used last year, which I remember as adding the raw sorrel to the omelet as it was folded. This time I sautéed a bit of garlic, then added the sorrel for a brief turn. Then cooked the omelet and spooned on the sorrel along with some spoonfuls of pyramid goat cheese. Pretty tasty. Then a big salad. Then a dab of Morbiers. Then some slices of pound cake. Two small ones left to toast for breakfast.

Saturday/1-Oct-11: But we didn't have them for breakfast. Instead we had pains de chocolate from the grocery store. Sometimes they have them in packages of two, which are just right for us.

Dinner was Scallops and Mushrooms, a recipe I got from a food list and will probably save. The recipe said to serve over farro, which of course I didn't have; used brown rice instead. Probably barley (I thought) or lentils (Ed thought) would have been better, the earthy taste matching the 'shrooms. Might try this again.

As a side, I roasted the end of the cauliflower and some thick slices of zucchini, tossed with olive oil, salt, and a sprinkling of some Moroccan spice I made for something or other.

The end of the blueberry-raspberry cake for dessert. Then a dog walk under the crescent moon and milky way.

Sunday/2-Oct-11: Dinner was Lex's Roast Chicken (EAT-L, soon to be MC), a really nice roast chicken. First the pan is lined with thick slices of baguette; then a layer of sautéed onions, celery, and garlic, spiced with thyme, lots of freshly ground black pepper, and red pepper flakes; then the spatchcocked chickie; then in the oven for a good long while. Yummy, with crispy skin. All accompanied by some peas and a little salad of grated carrots with a lemon vinaigrette.

Froze up the raspberry sorbet. Yogurt on overnight.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: yes, #2 SOUP: no, #3 MIDDAY: no
This month: #4 PASTA: yes

This week in the kitchen

Monday/19-Sep-11: Didn't get to that stack of tomatoes today, although we had big ones at lunch and dinner.

Dinner was Tuscan Vegetable Sauté (web, via PatM, soon to be MC). Made a half recipe and served over polenta, which of course is from Lombardy rather than Tuscany, but I won't tell if you don't. The half recipe should serve 3, and I expect it does since we had a lot leftover. Good stuff.

Tuesday/20-Sep-11: Deseeded another load of tomatoes and boiled them up for sauce. Buzzed and in the fridge overnight to freeze tomorrow.

Barbara gave us about two liters of freshly picked raspberries!

Having nothing on the plan for this evening's meal, I defrosted some duck scallops, floured and S&P'd, then sautéed. Deglazed the pan with a good slog of marsala and added a bitter butter when that was reduced. Voila! a sauce. With orzo, pine nuts and basil added. Then a salad of mâche.

Wednesday/21-Sep-11: Made the juice for some raspberry sorbet. Shopped. Pizza for dinner.

Thursday/22-Sep-11: Yogurt on overday. Froze up more tomato sauce. Made tomorrow's dessert.

Dinner was a half dose of Fettuccine con Merluzzo e Piselli (Fettuccine with Cod and Peas) (Lorenza, p111, cookbooker), which was quite good and very easy. Intended to make fresh pasta, but didn't have the time. That's two misses this month.

When I got home from line dancing, we froze up Raspberry-Champagne Sorbet (Scoop, p132, cookbooker), which I made with Clairette de Die rather than champagne. It made only 2 cups and we ate it all. Might make a double dose of this up tomorrow.

Friday/23-Sep-11: Made my meal for Cook the Books, just under the wire again. Started with Moroccan Zucchini Salad, which has been around several times this summer and is still a favorite. Then there was Papa's Posole. Then there was Crème Caramel (TLProvFr, p102).

Saturday/24-Sep-11: For dinner, I dredged a couple of turkey scallops in flour mixed with the last of the rub for the carnitas and sautéed then. Then deglazed the pan with chicken broth (from a jar), white wine vinegar, and dijon mustard. Meanwhile, I warmed up the unused fettuccine noodles from Thursday in a bit of oil and mixed with some cilantro pesto from the freezer. This worked quite well, but it might be better to mix the oil with the pasta just after it's cooked. Then a bit salad with Turmeric Dressing (PRMTurmeric, p55). The dressing was good, and healthy, of course. ;-) Dessert was another pair of crème caramels.

Sunday/25-Sep-11: Ate lunch at a lovely ferme-auberge this afternoon. No need for further food.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: yes, #2 SOUP: no, #3 MIDDAY: no
This month: #4 PASTA: not quite

This week in the kitchen

Monday/5-Sep-11: Off at a quiz tonight. Nothing much happening in the kitchen. Did make a start on washing the new dishes.

Tuesday/6-Sep-11: Yogurt on overday.

It was unplanned, but today turned into a kitchen day. Started quince jelly, using the quince I bought at a vide grenier on Sunday. Baked a Pear Bundt Cake (MC) using pears that Ed brought home from choir practice last week. Now I've got some oldish plums plus a big pile of raspberries that Barbara sent this afternoon that need to be dealt with.

Washed more of the new dishes and realized that Ed has a counting problem. There are 23 each of the salad and soup plates. Washing on a "space available" basis, it may take quite a while to get them all done.

Dinner was Amy's Grilled Chicken Breasts (MC), which was good. Accompanied by grilled potato slices, parboiled first, then coated with a half and half mixture of mayo and dijon mustard; quite good, although I cooked them a bit too long before the grilling. And for our daily zucchini, there was Courgette, Lemon, & Ricotta Salad (Jamie mag, soon to be MC). Very easy and quite good, this was. Followed by pear cake, of course.

Wednesday/7-Sep-11: Shopped today, after another trip to Emmaus. Got some sorrel, have to adjust the menu plan. Didn't finish the quince jelly or make apple-plum butter or deal with the raspberries today.

For a starter, we had Jamie's leftover salad. It held up remarkably well, making me think it might be happier marinating longer than the 10 minutes suggested. Then we had a half dose of Noodles with a Carrot Cream Sauce (KnowHow, p245, cookbooker), which was interesting. Then a plain-ish salad. Didn't feel like dessert and it was too late anyhow.

Thursday/8-Sep-11: Finished off the quince jelly this morning, two small pots. It should have had lots of pectin, but didn't seem to want to set. I added a bit of sugar with pectin to help. It took ages to get up to the right temp (maybe the first time I've used that thermometer), but it finally did. Hope it will be set when it cools.

Also made a double dose of apple-plum butter, using some of the cheap, but tasty, fall apples from the store and some plums that need using (they were tasty enough, but dry and unpleasant in the mouth). That turned into a single dose actually, what with the small apples and boiling it a bit too long.

Used Barbara's raspberries to make up the "broth" for raspberry sherbet. Surprise—there were some strawberries in the bottom of the box. I took care of those all by myself.

Dinner was Creamy Zucchini and Dolcelatte Soup (SoupBible, p53). It was good. Might be good with broccoli too.

Friday/9-Sep-11: Yogurt on overday. Didn't get the sherbet made. Tomorrow.

Dinner was a repeat from last year's sorrel season, Risotto con Gamberi e Acetosa (Wild Sorrel and Prawn Risotto (WildCarluccio, p20). Yum. And a salad with half a big tomato, deseeded, from the garden. Bonne Mamam baba au rhums for dessert. (On sale at the grocery.)

Saturday/10-Sep-11: Another walk with meal this evening. Pretty quiet in the kitchen all day.

Sunday/11-Sep-11: Froze up the Raspberry Sherbet (Scoop, p132) this morning. Filled a liter freezer bakje quite full.

Picked 1.5 kilos of assorted cherry tomatoes today. And more than 3 kilos of beefsteak tomatoes. The biggest beefsteak baby was 675 grams.

Dinner was Penne or Rigatoni con Zucchine (Top100Pasta, p44), using the zucchini I collected today. It was good, but the mozzarella didn't melt as it ought to have, so the sauce was a bit stringy. Tasty though.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: yes, #2 SOUP: yes, #3 MIDDAY: no
This month: #4 PASTA: not yet

This week in the kitchen

Monday/25-Jul-11: Shopped this afternoon, along with a handful of other errands. After we got home, we had a phone call from our Dutch friends Patrice and Wim, who were on their way to the Intermarché in Montbron. They came along after and I started to make dinner for them, but then we decided to go to La Bellone. Somewhere in there, I started on a sorbet for tomorrow night. Altogether, not much happened in the kitchen.

Tuesday/26-Jul-11: Made a double batch of chicken stock today, from two carcasses in the freezer.

For dinner there was an old favorite, Pork Tenderloin Diane (MC), very tasty. Served with polenta. I'm wondering if the pork slices should just be served and sauced right on the polenta, rather than at the separately on the plate. They all go together so well. For a side there was Mingle Mangle (Warm Zucchini Salad) (GreeneGreens, p399, cookbooker), an interesting way to use zucchini, that might end up as a pasta sauce in its next appearance.

Didn't freeze up the ice cream. It will wait another day.

Wednesday/27-Jul-11: Yogurt on overday.

We had a nice walk today with Patrice and Wim near Le Lindois, then stopped at the grocery and picked up bbq supplies. We started with some frozen pastry finger foods. Then sat down with charentaise melon and pineau. From the bbq, we had merguez, merguez de volaille, and chipolatas, as well as some skewered rabbit and prunes. I made another batch of North African Zucchini Salad with Garlic, Chili Paste, and Caraway (MedHot, p32), and we had some frozen roasted potatoes that weren't too bad. And there was lots of dessert. When we shopped on Monday, I bought a 4-pack of egg custards, then P&W brought 4-packs of ile flottante and tiramisu. We've made a dent in these now, but the ice cream still didn't get made.

Thursday/28-Jul-11: Finally froze up the Lemon-Buttermilk Sherbet (Scoop, p117) this afternoon.

Dilly-dallied about starting dinner, so I didn't have time to make what I'd planned. Annoying of me. For a starter there was the last bit of Saturday's tart, plus the last bit of yesterday's North African Zucchini Salad—I think the first time we've had that chilled; it's good like that. Then a made-up pasta dish with broccoli and shrooms, using up the end of the ricotta and marscapone I used for the tart. And sherbert for dessert, of course. I liked it lots; Ed not so much.

Friday/29-Jul-11: Nothing much happening in the kitchen today. Lunched at La Bellone today prior to playing petanque with Lesley and Toby.

Saturday/30-Jul-11: Homemade fettucine tonight (especially good with tipo 00 flour) with Fettucine alle Zucchine e Zafferano (ClassPasta, p91), a tasty and pretty sauce. Followed by a salad. Followed by storebought tiramisu. Followed by a bit of chaource.

Yogurt on overnight.

Sunday/31-Jul-11: Yum, a nice Indian dinner tonight, and Barbara joined us upon a last-minute invitation. For a main, there was Shrimp with Zucchini (Jhinga aur ghia) (MJ1, p90). A first, and seriously yummy. With plain basmati rice and Red Split Lentils with Cumin Seed (Masoor dal) (MJ1, p122). The dal was tasty, but runnier that it's been before. And some Onion Relish (Pyaz ka laccha) (MJ1, p174), which is always good. For dessert, more of the Lemon-Buttermilk Sherbert, served with some slice mangoes I found hiding in the freezer.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: yes, #2 SOUP: no, #3 MIDDAY: no
This month: #4 PASTA: yes

This week in the kitchen

Monday/27-Jun-11: Midday meal today, an old favorite. Warm Broccoli and Potato Salad (MDSalads, p15). This must be one of my most repeated recipes. The two of us eat all of the recipe made for 4. Yum.

The Whole Wheat Bread with Bran from yesterday is quite yummy.

Tuesday/28-Jun-11: Whew, hot weather over for now and today has had reasonable temps. So we had a barbecue. Spicy Pork Tenderloin (MC), with the tenderloin cut in five bits (tail and two sections sliced horizontally). Accompanied by a Nigella Lawson recipe, Watermelon, Feta, and Black Olive Salad (MC); such a odd combination, but it really works. And some corn on the cob Ed got at the shops. I puréed the rest of the watermelon to make sorbet in the next days.

Wednesday/29-Jun-11: Got back from Bordeaux today feeling kind of iffy in the stomach. Nothing in the grocery appealed for dinner (I'd planned to get something fishy). Instead we had rewarmed chicken tagine. I took the leftover couscous, added the curry sauce that came with the corn on the cob (yes, curry sauce with corn on the cob), some chopped cuke, shallot, red bell pepper, and chili pepper, along with a goodly squeeze of lemon juice. Not bad at all. Followed by a salad. A bit of store-bought ice cream with chocolate cookies for dessert.

A while ago, I read that French people don't cut their salad lettuce as served. They just use their knife and fork to fold it all up into a tidy bundle for sticking in their mouths. When we lunched at the bread fair, I happened to notice that this is indeed what happens. So we Americans were sitting there cutting our lettuce leaves into bite-sized chunks while our neighbors folded theirs.

Yogurt on overnight.

Thursday/30-Jun-11: Needed an early lunch today before our respective afternoon and evening outings and didn't plan for this, so fell back to an old, easy favorite, Broccoli with Roasted Peppers, Olives, and Feta Cheese (Savory, p188), served over trio rice. After I got back in the evening we had a plate of fruit and some goat cheese.

Friday/31-Jun-11 (aka 1-Jul-11): Today counts as last month for the pasta-this-month-goal. I've been planning this for a while, but things keep happening to stop me making it, so here it is for last month. I made fresh taglitelle and served it with Fettuccine con Carciofi e Mozzarella (Lorenza, p91, cookbooker). Fettuccine would have been better, probably, but I just felt like the wider noodle. Not my favorite sauce, but not bad. Then a big salad of roquette. Then a half dose of Watermelon Sorbetto (Scoop, p112, cookbooker).

Saturday/2-Jul-11: Dinner was Shredded Zucchini Frittata with Parmesan (Bishop, p169) made with our first zucchini, of which I neglected to take a photo. Accompanied Mildred Schulz's String Beans and Potatoes (GreeneGreens, p346), with very fresh young haricots verts from the veggie lady who shows up at local bric-à-bracs; this was good, but not quite the right taste for the Italian-ish frittata. Then we ate up the rest of the Watermelon Sorbetto.

Made some apple-rhubarb butter for Barbara and David; it's their rhubarb, after all. Got ready for some peaches and cream ice cream tomorrow night (their peaches too). Might try some peach butter with some of the remaining, and maybe freeze up the rest.

Sunday/3-Jul-11: Yogurt on overday. Started some peach butter this afternoon to use up the rest of Barbara's peaches. It's in the crockpot overnight, so we'll see how that goes.

More of Barbara's bounty ended up in a half-dose of Mile High Blueberry Muffins (MC). Isn't it nice to have friends with a surplus?

I couldn't find the clipping with the recipe that I intended to make tonight, so I ended up doing something inspired by Merguez and Sweet Potato Hash at food52. I started the onions cooking while my sweet potatoes boiled till partly cooked. After they cooled a bit, I cut the sweet pots lengthwise into planks. I used the two-burner grill pan to grill the planks and 6 links (300g) of turkey merguez while the onion caramelized. When the pots were done, I cut the planks in half at the "waist". Then I cut the merguez links into three chunks each, 1.5-2" long, about the same as the half-planks of sweet potatoes (which were on the small side to start with). Tossed all these together with the onion and rosemary. It wasn't hash, I guess, since the bits were too big, but it was quite tasty anyhow. Followed this by a salad of mâche and beets and other stuff. Then peaches and cream ice cream (made with half cream and half milk and it was fine).

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: yes, #2 SOUP: no, #3 MIDDAY: yes
This month: #4 PASTA: yes for June, no for July